The Lion Roars!
Discipleship Questions for
Sunday January 20, 2008
Scripture Readings:
First Reading:
Amos 3:1-8
Psalm:
27
Second
Reading: 1Cor 1:10-17
Gospel:
Matthew 4:12-23
Amos
3:1
Hear this word the LORD has spoken
against you, O people of Israel—against the whole family I brought up out of
Egypt:
Amos 3:2
“You
only have I chosen
of
all the families of the earth;
therefore I
will punish you
for
all your sins.”
Amos 3:3
Do
two walk together
unless
they have agreed to do so?
Amos 3:4
Does
a lion roar in the thicket
when
he has no prey?
Does he growl in his den
when
he has caught nothing?
Amos 3:5
Does
a bird fall into a trap on the ground
where
no snare has been set?
Does a trap spring up from the earth
when
there is nothing to catch?
Amos 3:6
When
a trumpet sounds in a city,
do
not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
has
not the LORD caused it?
Amos 3:7
Surely
the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without
revealing his plan
to his
servants the prophets.
Amos 3:8
The
lion has roared—
who
will not fear?
The Sovereign LORD has spoken—
who
can but prophesy?
Psa.
27:0
Of David.
Psa. 27:1
The
LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom
shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of
whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
to
devour my flesh,
when my
enemies and my foes attack me,
they
will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege
me,
my
heart will not fear;
though war
break out against me,
even
then will I be confident.
Psa. 27:4
One
thing I ask of the LORD,
this
is what I seek:
that I may
dwell in the house of the LORD
all
the days of my life,
to gaze upon
the beauty of the LORD
and
to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he
will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide
me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and
set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted
above
the enemies who surround me;
at his
tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to
the LORD.
Psa. 27:7
Hear
my voice when I call, O LORD;
be
merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you,
“Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do
not turn your servant away in anger;
you
have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the
LORD will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead
me in a straight path
because
of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my
foes,
for
false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing
out violence.
Psa. 27:13
I
am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of
the LORD
in
the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
be
strong and take heart
and
wait for the LORD.
1Cor.
1:10
I
appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you
agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you
may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11 My brothers, some from
Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12
What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas’”;
still another, “I follow Christ.”
1Cor. 1:13
Is
Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of
Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my
name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas;
beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words
of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Matt.
4:12
When
Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13
Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the
area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14
to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
Matt. 4:15
“Land
of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the
way to the sea, along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have
seen a great light;
on those
living in the land of the shadow of death
a
light has dawned.”
Matt. 4:17
From
that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
near.”
Matt. 4:18
As
Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the
lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you
fishers of men.” 20 At once they left
their nets and followed him.
Matt. 4:21
Going
on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother
John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets.
Jesus called them, 22 and
immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Matt. 4:23
Jesus
went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news
of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
1Cor.
1:1
I
have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of
Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with
each other I implore you – I entreat you to get along with each other! You must
learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.
The NIV puts it this way:
1Cor. 1:10
I appeal to you, brothers, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that
there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in
mind and thought.
Now there’s a novel thought that
Christians should be of one mind! Oh
would that not be a very very special day when all
Christians will be of one mind!
What would it
take, I wonder, for that to happen today – here and now – not only here at TCC
but around the world!
What would it take for there to be
unity in the Body of Christ? Put
differently, what would it take for there to be no divisions between us?
What would it take for us to “speak
the same thing” as St. Paul put it. This is how the Greek should be literally
translated. Paul is exhorting us to
“speak the same thing” to each other and to the world.
The word “divisions” (schismata, literally “tears” or
“cracks”) graphically conveys the idea of the dissensions that were rending the
church. He makes this exhortation through (dia) the authority of Jesus
Christ (10a), whose name they revere.
Let’s
read on:
1Cor.
1:11
I
bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report
to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! 12 I’ll tell you exactly what I was
told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or
“I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in
the Messiah group.”
Now let’s just stop for a second and
try to understand fully what St. Paul is saying here?
Can you relate to this situation at
all? What’s happening in this community
is “side-taking.” Why do so many of us
slip so so easily into this downward spiraling
syndrome of “side-taking?”
What could you or I do the next time
we feel drawn – even compelled - into taking a side? Well let’s keep listening to see if St. Paul
can help us a bit shall we?
1Cor.
1:13
I
ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have
a relic all of our own? Ah! Is Paul
touching on the point that when we take a stand and claim our rightness over
and against another’s we are, as it were, dividing Jesus up instead of seeking
together to find Him whole.
This
reminds me of Solomon’s dilemma – do you remember it? Two women came to Him each arguing that a
single baby boy was theirs. Apparently
the other child had died in bed over night and they were both claiming the
remaining child as their own.
Do
you remember how Solomon resolved this question? Yes, he proceeded to order that the baby be
cut in two and his halves be given to each woman.
Well
predictably the real mother couldn’t allow that to happen and so she
relinquished her claim to preserve the life of her baby boy.
And immediately Solomon knew who the real mother was.
In
the same way when we choose sides it’s as if we’re cutting Jesus up instead of
laying down our perhaps legitimate rights for the better good of not dividing
Jesus!
Now I know what most of us are thinking – but right is right isn’t
it?
Yes,
but WHAT IF you and I were to lay down our right just like the ancient mother
did – may not God, the true audience of all of our actions, ultimately rule in
our favor?
Can
you and I entrust ourselves to God’s ultimate arbitration or do we always have
to do it ourselves here and now?
Hmmmmmmm. . . something
to think about anyway. Let’s read on:
1Cor. 1:13
I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each
have a relic all our own? Was Paul
crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?” 14 I was not involved with any of your
baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting
this report, I’m sure glad I wasn’t. 15
At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. 16 (Come to think of it, I also
baptized Stephanas’s family, but as far as I can
recall, that’s it.)
Now listen carefully to verse 17
because it’s here that Paul pulls it all together:
1Cor.
1:17
Christ
didn’t send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message
of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn’t send me to
do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the
center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.
Ah! Paul is drawing his listeners away from their
sides by attracting them to the side of Christ of the Cross!
The Lamb of God
roars alright but this time it’s the roar of Love and It’s this roar that
brings His followers to their knees in wonder and love and relinquishment!
Christ on the
Cross is the central symbol of our community.
You may have heard me say this before – It sets the gold standard, as it
were, for all currency in this community.
Its Christ’s
SELF-denying love demonstrated on the Cross that sets the standard of value and
pattern for all of our behavior.
If we behave with
motives not driven by self-denying love they have no value! They should have no value – they should not
be given any value in our community.
Imagine a
community in which all thoughts and actions were given value according to how
well they measured up to Christ’s love on the Cross.
When you and I
take sides against one another all too easily we are in some sense devaluing
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross! And to
that extent we’re tearing down the very support beams that
holds this community together.
Now try to
imagine a community in which we resolved all dissensions – all differences –
all grievances – all offenses - by coming together before the Cross of Christ,
laying down our differences and prostrating our hearts and our bodies before
Him and humbly seeking His grace to resolve our differences.
Try to envision a
community in which each of us are so full of the wonder of our resurrected
Lord’s love that we seek before anything else to find His peace and His unity
with one another with a great and terrible courage that is always willing to
die for the other before all too readily asserting our rights over against him
or her.
Can you imagine
yourself in such a community living in the glow of Christ’s love on the Cross?
Now this is not
to call us to capitulate on all issues in the name of peace and unity for there
are rare times when we need to take a stand but let us do this after exhausting
ever possible effort to find peace with our brothers and sisters and then let
us proceed with heavy heavy hearts not with triumphalistic hearts that declare we are right and they
are wrong for when two brothers or sisters go into battle with one another
something of the Cross of Christ seems to be devalued!
This is what St.
Paul is calling forth from the Corinthian Christians. They, like us, are probably having trouble in
hearing him for, like us, they may find themselves too engrossed in the
rightness of their cause or their offense.
Such is the
dilemma facing all human beings in community but we Christians above all other
voluntary communities have the most perfect Model for the challenge to find and
maintain a unified and peaceful community – it’s Christ on the Cross – calling
us all to lay down ourselves for the other in sacrificial love!
Please look with
me at Christ on the Cross!
That is what our
sins deserve! Yes, even the little
microscopic ones – all sins deserve that!
But He did this
for you and me so that we could find unity with His Father and with one
another!
This is the most
perfect answer to unity and peace – may we ever stare upon it and learn – amen
and amen!